Polls

Polling on the Question of an English Parliament.

Except where indicated these polls were undertaken throughout the UK. A fairer contrast with the questions asked in the devolution referenda would be to poll in England only and pose the alternatives “I agree that there should be an English Parliament” or “I do not agree that there should be an English Parliament” (Http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/devolution/wales/live/index.shtml)

NB 44% of Scots voted for the Scottish Parliament (“the settled will of the Scottish people”) and

25% of the Welsh voted for a Welsh Assembly in answer to the equivalent question in their referenda

Conservative home 2011

51% wanted an English Parliament

September 2009:YouGov for the The Jury Team

An England only poll on the proposal to set up an English Parliament to decide matters that relate solely to England the reponses were:

Yes

58%

No

20%

Would not vote

8%

Don’t know

14%

ICM for the Telegraph | December 2007

By telephone: Base adults over 18: 1010 UK 867 England

WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER FOR ENGLAND?

UK

England

Laws made by the Commons with all MPs voting

32%

32%

Laws made by the Commons but only English MPs voting

24%

25%

English Parliament within the Union

21%

20%

Independence from Scotland and Wales

16%

15%

Comment: 60% of UK and English citizens polled are dissatisfied with the current situation

Sky News online poll | December 2007

Base: 4,316 GB respondents (self selecting)

Should Scottish MPs get a vote on English matters?

Yes

15%

No

85%

ICM for the Campaign for an English Parliament | April 2007
Base: 1006 GB adults

You may have seen or heard that a separate Scottish parliament, a Welsh assembly and a Northern Ireland Assembly have been established.

Do you think that England should or should not have its own parliament or assembly?

For an English Parliament

67%

Against an English Parliament

25%

Don’t Know

7%

YouGov for the Sunday Times | April 2007
Base: 2218 GB adults

Thinking about the way England is governed in the light of devolution to

Scotland and Wales, which of the following would be your preferred option:

A separate English parliament with similar powers to the Scottish Parliament

21%

Stopping MPs from Scottish and Welsh seats from voting on matters that affect

Only England

51%

Keeping the current arrangements as they are

12%

None of the above

4%

Don’t know

12%

Comment: 72-74% of UK citizens polled dissatisfied with the current situation

Newsnight Poll | January 2007

Base: 883 in England

SHOULD ENGLAND HAVE ITS OWN PARLIAMENT?

In 1998 the creation of a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly gave these countries certain powers that were previously held by the UK parliament in Westminster. Do you think that an English Parliament should now be established?

yes

no

undecided/neutral

England

61%

32%

7%

Scotland

51%

35%

13%

Wales

48%

40%

11%

Daily Mail / ICM Poll | January 2007

Base: 883 polled in England

Q5. There is now a Scottish Parliament and a devolved Assembly in Wales and Northern Ireland. Do you think there should or shouldn’t be a parliament for England only?

should

should not

don’t know

England

51%

41%

7%

Scotland

58%

30%

12%

ICM for the Sunday Telegraph | November 2006
Base 869 in England

Would you be in favour or against the establishment of an English Parliament within the UK, with similar powers to those currently enjoyed by the Scottish Parliament?

With all the changes going on in the way the different parts of Great Britain are run, which of the following do you think would be best for England… for England to be governed as it is now, with laws made by the UK parliament, for each region of England to have its own elected assembly that makes decisions about the region’s economy, planning and housing, or, for England as a whole to have its own new parliament with lawmaking powers?

UK parliament as now

558

51.8%

Regional assembly

189

17.5%

New parliament for England

249

23.1%

(None of these)

38

3.5%

Don’t know

43

4.0%

Not answered

0

0.0%

23% in the UK voted for an English Parliament (figures for England not found) more than for regional devolution

NB National devolution was granted to Wales on the basis of 25% of the electorate voting for a Welsh national assembly

IPSOS MORI for the English Constitutional Convention | June 2006
Base: not found

With all the constitutional changes going on in the way different parts of the UK are run, which are creating national Parliaments for Scotland and Wales, which of the following do you think would be best for England for England?

To be governed as it is now, with laws made by the UK Parliament even though this means that Scottish and Welsh MPs can vote on English-only issues

32%

For England to be divided into Regions with each having its own Assembly

14%

For England as a whole to have its own national Parliament with similar law-making powers to the

Scottish Parliament

41%

Don’t know

13%

BBC Online Vote | March 2006

3401 UK (self selecting)

Should there be an English Parliament?

Yes

76.51%

No

23.49%

YouGov for the English Democrats | Feb 2004
Base: 2364 GB adults

Which of the following options do you prefer?

The division of England into nine Regions, each having their own elected assemblies, which will have power to take some decisions but not to create new laws

11 %

A Parliament for England with the power to allow it to develop and implement policies which reflect the particular needs of the people of England

24 %

Scottish and Welsh members of the UK Parliament having their voting rights restricted to prevent them from voting on England-only issues

At the moment, as well as the Parliament at Westminster, Scotland has its own Parliament, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own Assemblies. England, however, does not have either. It has been suggested that England should have either its own Parliament, along with the Westminster Parliament, or have nine English Regional Assemblies. Which of these statements, if any, best sums up your opinion about this?

England should have its own English Parliament

47%

England should be made up of nine Regional Assemblies

28%

Don’t know

25%

2002 The Jimmy Young show (St George’s day) telephone poll of 14,556 people showed 94% in favour

With all the changes going on in the way the different parts of Great Britain are run, which of the following do you think would be best for England… for England to be governed as it is now, with laws made by the UK parliament, for each region of England to have its own assembly that runs services like health, or, for England as a whole to have its own new parliament with law-making powers?

as it is now

1569

56.8%

regional assemblies

611

22.1%

England its own parliament

443

16.0%

(None of these)

35

1.3%

Don’t know

103

3.7%

Not Answered

0

0.0%

23% in England voted for an English Parliament (16% in UK)

NB National devolution was granted to Wales on the basis of 25% of the electorate voting for a Welsh national assembly

British Social Attitudes Survey

The British Social Attitudes surveys have, since 1999, shown a trend for the people in England surveyed to move towards a desire for an English Parliament. Table taken from “Is an English Backlash emerging?” John Curtice; Institute of Public Policy Research 2010.

Constitutional preferences for England, 1999–2009

With all the changes going on in the way different parts of Great Britain are run, which of the following do you think would be best for England?

Year

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

England governed as it is now, with laws made by The UK parliament

62

54

57

56

50

53

54

54

57

51

49

Each region of England to have its own assembly that Runs services like health*

15

28

32

20

26

21

20

18

14

15

15

England as whole to have its own new parliament with law making powers

18

19

16

17

18

21

18

21

17

26

29

Base: Respondents living in England

2718

1928

2761

2897

3709

2684

1794

928

859

982

980

*In 2004–6 the second option read ‘that makes decisions about the region’s economy, planning and housing’. The 2003 survey carried both versions of this option and demonstrated that the difference of wording did not make a material difference to the pattern of response. The figures quoted for 2003 are those for the two versions combined.